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Sub-National Constitutions in Federal Systems

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Sub-National Constitutions in Federal Systems SUB-NATIONAL CONSTITUTIONS IN FEDERAL SYSTEMS Michael Burgess and G. Alan Tarr Prepared by the Forum of Federations with the support of the Government of Canada. SUB-NATIONAL CONSTITUTIONS IN FEDERAL SYSTEMS Michael Burgess and G. Alan Tarr CONTENTS Foreword .............................................................................................................................................. i 1. Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 2 2. Sub-national Constitutionalism ........................................................................................................ 3 2.1 The Sub-national Perspective ............................................................................................................. 4 2.2 Establishing and Maintaining Sub-national Constitutional Space ...................................................... 4 2.3 Supervising Sub-national Constitutional Choices ............................................................................... 5 2.4 Preempting Sub-national Constitutional Choices ............................................................................... 6 2.5 Reviewing Sub-national Constitutional Choices ................................................................................. 6 2.6 Different Scopes of Sub-national Constitutional Space ...................................................................... 7 3. Using the Sub-national Constitutional Space .................................................................................. 10 3.1 Political factors in sub-national constitutions ................................................................................... 10 3.2 Consequences of Using Sub-national Constitutional Space ............................................................. 12 4. Case Studies ................................................................................................................................... 14 4.1 The United States, Germany, and Austria ......................................................................................... 14 4.2 Bosnia and Herzegovina, Switzerland, Belgium, and Canada ........................................................... 15 4.3 The United Kingdom, Spain, and Italy ............................................................................................... 18 4.4 Supranational integration in Europe ................................................................................................. 20 Endnotes ........................................................................................................................................... 23 FOREWORD The right to have subnational constitutions has been a constant demand of Myanmar’s ethnic minorities. This is perhaps driven by the perception that subnational constitutions will act as an enabler for the more robust protection of human rights and minority rights across the country, and particularly in the ethnic states. This demand therefore is neither new nor frivolous, having been discussed over more than six decades of conflict in the country. In late 2019, State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, assured the ethnic minorities the right to subnational constitutions in her address commemorating the 4th anniversary of the signing of the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement. Outlining the government’s determination to work towards a federal union, she mentioned that “States will have a constitution that assures self-determination”. This shows the importance of subnational constitutions as a major pillar in Myanmar’s federalization. The question of self-determination of ethnic minorities also features prominently in the Federal Democracy Charter promulgated by the Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH) on April 1, 2021, in response to the February 1 coup by the Myanmar military. What is further required is defining of what would be the framework within which the constituent units in Myanmar would frame their constitution. The Forum of Federations has been supporting dialogue around federalism in Myanmar for almost a decade now. In the spirit of “learning from each other” we bring to the table international experiences – we do not hold normative views on subnational constitutions or other aspects of federalism. This paper forms part of the Forum of Federation’s current project “Strengthening Federalism and Inclusive Governance in Myanmar” which is funded by the Government of Canada. The paper draws extensively on the work of Alan Tarr and the late Michael Burgess which culminated in the publication of Constitutional Dynamics in Federal Systems. Sub-national Perspectives. It synthesizes their main research findings, which have been updated by Giacomo Delledone. The purpose of this paper is not to comment on or advocate a particular model or approach for Myanmar. Rather it presents the state of the art in comparative international practice, which we hope will stimulate debate and discussions on the way forward and options for Myanmar. Felix Knüpling Vice President, Forum of Federations i 1. INTRODUCTION The capacity to respond to change and the challenges associated with it are crucial to the success and survival of federal states. The constitutional arrangements within a federal system for dividing power, resolving disputes, safeguarding rights, and providing for reform and renewal are key in responding to these challenges. This article examines how the constitutional architecture of federal and quasi-federal systems has influenced their evolution and development, their success and survival. This article also looks at the constitutional architecture of these systems from “below”—from the point of view of sub-national constitutions and the regions that they govern. To many readers, the term “constitutional architecture” may sound odd, but it points to an important overlooked feature of federal constitutionalism. In every federal system, political arrangements at the national level are structured by a federal constitution. In some federal systems, the federal constitution prescribes the political institutions and processes for the country's constituent units—such as provinces, states or cantons—as well, thus dictating the constitutional architecture for the entire federal system.1 But in most federal systems, the federal constitution is acknowledged as an incomplete framework document, in the sense that it does not prescribe all constitutional processes and arrangements. Rather, it leaves space to be filled by the constitutions of its sub-national units. The scope of this sub-national constitutional space varies from one federal system to another. Typically, the less detail that the federal constitution provides, the greater the space for sub-national constitutional space. Usually, federal constitutions also set parameters that constrain the choices available to those drafting sub-national constitutions.2 Nonetheless, this system of dual constitutionalism furnishes an opportunity for constituent units to define their own goals and establish their own governmental institutions and processes. This is a part of the self-rule that is fundamental to a federation. Sub-national constitutions also form part of the overall constitutional framework for the federation. They are “part and parcel of the total constitutional structure of federal systems and play a vital role in giving the system direction.”3 Constituent units may make use of the constitutional space available to them to initiate reforms to respond to the problems they confront. These experiments, if successful, may have consequences beyond their own borders. A successful experiment in one constituent unit may promote emulation by other constituent units that confront the same problems: a process known as horizontal federalism. In addition, successful experiments in the constituent units may encourage the federal government to adopt the same reforms at the national level, so that the pattern of influence is bottom-up rather than top-down. Thus, to fully understand constitutional evolution and development in federal and quasi-federal systems, one must constantly be mindful of the interplay of federal and sub- national constitutions. 2 2. SUB-NATIONAL CONSTITUTIONALISM What qualifies a document as a sub-national constitution? In some federal systems—for example, Australia, Germany, and the United States—the question is easily answered. Each federation has distinct identifiable documents that structure political life in its constituent units. In other federal systems, such as Belgium and Nigeria, the question is likewise easily answered, because there are no documents distinct from the federal constitution which perform that function.4 However, in some federal systems the answer is not so clear. For one thing, constitutions in some federal systems are not enshrined in a single document. In Canada, for example, several documents comprise the federal constitution, and the same is true for provincial constitutions. The situation is further complicated by the emergence of supra-national entities such as the European Union. In some ways, the interactions between the national governments of EU members and the EU resemble those between federal governments and their constituent units. Beyond that, the constituent units of federations find themselves subject to two levels of authority—they can violate neither EU law nor national law in the constitutional arrangements they devise or
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